This easy no-chop ’whole onion’ pasta sauce recipe will seriously upgrade your midweek dinners

Name: This easy no-chop ’whole onion’ pasta sauce recipe will seriously upgrade your midweek dinners
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes; 100 g butter, chopped; 2 tsp. dried mixed herbs; Pinch sugar; 1 large onion, halved

Our version of the viral recipe.

By Alice ShieldsPublished: 18 June 2025

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Good Housekeeping

This easy, trending pasta sauce is all over social media, but you might be surprised to learn that original recipe has actually been around for over 50 years. Developed by Italian food writer Marcella Hazan in the 1970s, this simple sauce is made by slowly simmering a whole onion with chopped tomatoes and a healthy dose of butter. We’ve pimped it up by adding dried herbs and a pinch of sugar, but you can stick to the classic, if you prefer.

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Yields:

4 serving(s)

Prep Time:

10 mins

Cook Time:

1 hr 5 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

2
x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
100 g
butter, chopped
2 tsp.
dried mixed herbs
Pinch sugar
1
large onion, halved

Directions

1. Step 1Stir together tomatoes, butter, mixed herbs, sugar and plenty of seasoning in a large pan. Add in the onion, place over medium-high heat and bring to a bubble.
2. Step 2Lower the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 1hr, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the onion has started to soften.
3. Step 3Remove and discard the onion and check seasoning before serving.

If you don’t want to waste the onion, you could whizz it into the sauce with a stick blender, instead of removing.

If you don’t fancy serving with pasta, stir through a tin of drained and rinsed mixed beans 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

For more classic Italian pasta recipes, check out our pasta alla norma.

Want to know what you serve it with? Check out our GHI tested fresh pastas.

Our ultimate easy midweek pasta recipes 🍝

Alice Shields

Senior Cookery Writer

Alice Shields is Senior Cookery Writer for Good Housekeeping. A trained pastry chef, you’ll find her food styling on photo shoots, developing delicious recipes and writing about all things food. She loves to bake and her favourite pudding will always be a chocolate fondant. Originally hailing from Lancashire, she finally achieved her goal of getting a butter pie recipe into the magazine.

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